


A Little Less Song and a Lot More Action

by bettername2come



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-10-10 09:03:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10434192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettername2come/pseuds/bettername2come
Summary: Music Meister pops over to Star City to help Oliver and Felicity work through their respective issues.Set post Arrow 5x17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Let's face it: with Music Meister reuniting couples and helping Wally get back into superheroing, his next stop should definitely be teaching Oliver and Felicity a lesson. Especially after what Oliver went through this week.

Felicity tapped away at her keyboard. “I’m scanning everything I’ve got, but I still can’t get a location on Prometheus or Evelyn,” she said. “It’s like they’ve vanished off the face of the Earth. Again.”

“They can’t have just disappeared,” Oliver said. “Adrian needs to be brought in and brought to justice.”

“We’ll find him, man,” Diggle said.

From behind them, they heard clapping. The three jumped at the sound, spinning to face the newcomer. There stood a grinning man with bright eyes and curly black hair. “Bravo. Classic Team Arrow. I’m such a huge fan of your work. The simplicity of brain meets brawn. The beauty of pure, human endeavors. It’s remarkable. And it’s why I can’t stand to see a team of such talented, heroic people just fall apart.”

“How did you get in here?” Felicity asked.

“Oh, come on. It’s not like I’m the first person to invade your secret lair. I would tell you to get a security upgrade, but Cisco can’t make a cell that will hold me, so what are you gonna do?”

“Cisco? So, you’re a meta?” Oliver asked.

The other man laughed. “I’m much, much more than that, but we’re not here to talk about me. We are here to talk about the Green Arrow.”

Oliver shook his head. “He’s gone.”

The mystery man shook his head. “If that is the case, then there’s only one thing I can say. ‘Oliver Queen, you have failed this city.’” He locked eyes with Oliver, and for a moment Diggle could have sworn that both their eyes were glowing and expanding, but before he could work out what that could mean, Oliver was tumbling to the ground, with Felicity just catching his head before it hit the cement floor.

“Oliver! Oliver, can you hear me?” Felicity turned sharply back to their guest, who now had his eyes locked on her.

“Don’t worry, Felicity. I wouldn’t dream of putting him through this without you there to guide him,” the man said. “He can’t do it without his Overwatch.” His eyes were changing once more, and Felicity slumped, falling across Oliver’s chest.

A moment too late, John pulled his gun out. “What did you do to them?”

“Oh, John. Put the gun down. It’s really not gonna help you. Or them. You can’t shoot all your problems away, right? Haven’t you learned that by now?” He disappeared and reappeared behind John, yanking the gun out of his hand. “Look, your friends are fine, they just have some…personal issues to work through. You can hardly argue with that. I mean, has Felicity really seemed like her old self lately? And after Oliver’s time with Prometheus, a little magically induced coma could be just what he needs.”

“Who are you?” Diggle asked. “What do you want with them?”

“Ask Barry,” the mysterious curly-haired man said. “He can get you up to speed.” With that, he tossed John’s gun back to the ground before disappearing into thin air.

“Damn it, Barry,” Diggle said, reaching for his cell phone. “What have you dragged us into this time?”

*

Oliver blinked against the bright light of the city park he now found himself in. It looked familiar, but not, and the more he looked the more he realized that what he was looking at an amalgamation of Star City and Central City. “What the hell just happened?”

“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” a voice behind him asked.

He turned back to see Felicity, her hair down and wearing a floral dress and cardigan she had not been sporting in the lair. “We were just at the lair, right? How did we get here?”

“Ah, how soon they forget,” called a voice. Their mystery man had returned, now sporting slicked back hair and Ray-Bans that made him look like even more of tool than he had before. “I didn’t get a chance to explain before, so let me get that taken care of now. We’re inside your heads.”

“Inside our heads?” Oliver asked. He shook his head. “I’ve been through this before. There’s a way out. There’s always a way out.”

“Really, Ollie? You’re going to compare me to the Dominators?” the man said, sounding disappointed. “That’s not really fair, considering I haven’t tried to take over the world. Or any world, actually. I’m quite nice once you get to know me.” He sighed. “But you are right about one thing. There is a way out. But this time it’s not going to be as simple as finding the building that doesn’t belong. This time, there’s a mystery to solve. A plot.”

“Like a villainous plot or like a story?” Felicity asked.

The man smiled. “Very good question, Felicity, and the answer is both.”

“What is this place?” Oliver asked.

“It’s actually quite adorable, what you both craved. We are in your action movie world, and if I’m not mistaken, this one’s happening circa 1995. Back to childhood, a simpler time. Oliver, all those Saturdays spent with Tommy watching Schwarzenegger and Keanu Reeves movies, and what was it for you, Felicity? Sandra Bullock? _The Net_? Clearly, you were both more heavily influenced by those movies than you realized.” He sighed. “Honestly? I was kinda hoping for a little _Robin Hood: Men in Tights_ but, once again, this is not about me.”

“The nineties? Oh, no. I cannot be trapped in the nineties. I will not go back to the dark ages of dial-up internet.”

“All the more reason to figure out the plot and find your way back to the dark, gritty, inappropriately named Star City.”

“Or we make you take us back now,” Oliver said, swinging at the man’s jaw, only to have his image flicker out and flicker back in when he should have made contact.

The mystery man tsked. “If Kara Danvers couldn’t punch her way out of her movie, what chance do you think you have, Oliver?” he asked.

Oliver eyed the man suspiciously. “You took Kara.”

“Yes,” he replied. “And, she worked through her storyline and returned safely to her earth. No harm, no foul.”

“So that’s what you want? For us to work our way through some movie storyline and just go back home?” Oliver asked.

“Well, I want you to learn some lessons along the way, fulfill your destiny, that sort of thing, but yes, essentially that is all I want from you. Oh, and don’t die. Because that is one thing that will carry over into the real world, and like I said, big fan of your work, so, please don’t die.

“Okay,” Oliver said.

“Okay?” Felicity asked, turning to Oliver. “You’re just going along with this?”

“I don’t see that we have much of a choice,” Oliver said. “There’s clearly something magical going on here, and even though I’m trying, I can’t seem to channel any magic right now.”

“Nope. No magical powers here. Well, for you at least. Good luck, you crazy kids, I’m really rooting for you.” With that, the mysterious man disappeared into thin air.

“What, that’s it? No clues about what we’re supposed to be looking for or where we’re supposed to go, or – “ Felicity was cut off as a figure in red crashed into her, grabbing her purse and running off across the park before she could fully register what happened.

“My guess?” Oliver said. “Follow that guy.” He took off running after the guy, with Felicity trailing along behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do they still only have that one metal table for medical emergencies? Oh, whatever I'm giving them an upgrade even if they don't.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for Barry to arrive with Caitlin in tow. Diggle had already moved Oliver and Felicity to hospital beds and was monitoring their vitals.

“How are they doing?” Barry asked as Caitlin got to work examining the patients.

“Their vitals are strong. If I didn’t know anything different, I’d think they were just deep sleepers,” Diggle said. “Who the hell is this guy?”

“We’ve been calling him the Music Meister,” Barry said.

Diggle shot Barry a look of bewilderment. “Why?”

“Because he whammied Kara and I into a 1940s movie musical that we had to work our way through before we could wake up.”

“So you’re telling me that right now Oliver and Felicity are singing and dancing their problems away?” Diggle asked.

“Uh, no. That was just for us, because we liked musicals. But he said it could’ve been anything, so it’s up to them really. Although honestly, I’m having trouble imagining Oliver just vegging on the couch Netflixing, so I have no idea what kind of reality they’re in.”

“I swear to God, Barry,” Diggle said. “Our lives were so much more normal before we met you.”

“And before I met you, I’d never once gotten knocked unconscious and brought to a secret lair,” Barry replied. “So who changed whose life more?” He shook his head. “This guy isn’t a bad guy. He’s quite possibly clinically insane, but he didn’t actually want to hurt me or Kara. In his own twisted way he was trying to help us.”

“What did he want?”

“To get me and Iris back together and reunite Kara with her new alien boyfriend,” Barry said. “Oh, and to help Wally conquer his fears and get back into the superhero game.”

“Did it work?”

“Yeah. We’ll be sure to send you our save the date once we sort out this whole Savitar situation we’ve got going on right now,” Barry said.

Diggle rolled his eyes. “What about Wally? Did it convince him to get back in the field?”

“Kid Flash is saving the city once again,” Barry said. “Why?”

“Oliver says he’s done with all of this,” Diggle said.

“What? He’s quitting? Oliver can’t just quit. He’s the one that started all of this.”

“He’s messed up right now. This whole thing with Prometheus.” Diggle shook his head. “It’s got him doubting everything. About who he is and why he does what he does.”

“Then that’s it. That’s what this guy wants to fix. He says he’s on the side of the good guys. I think he’s trying to bring Oliver back to the team.”

Diggle sighed. “I hate to side with the magical psycho, but it sounds like he and I want the same thing this time.”

*

Oliver and Felicity chased after the man in the hood through an alley. Upon reaching a dead end, the man scrambled over the top of a chainlink fence. Oliver followed after, landing gracefully on the other side, and continuing the chase.

Felicity stopped at the fence, eying the men’s retreating forms. “Okay, you take care of him!” she called. She studied her surroundings.  “I’ll just…go around.”

Oliver gained on the suspect finally getting within a few feet of him. He took a flying leap forward, slamming the suspect to the ground. He jabbed his knee into the man’s back and reaches for Felicity’s purse. He grabbed the bag and looked through it, not that he or Felicity would know if anything was missing. Maybe there was some kind of clue to their mission inside the bag. The contents looked pretty standard. Keys, wallet, nineties cell phone, notepad, lipstick, floppy disk. Wait, that seemed like a clue worth mentioning to Felicity.

“Are you just gonna sit there all day, Queen?” the man asked. “What happened to reading me my rights?”

“Your rights?” Oliver let go of Felicity’s purse long enough to check over himself and find a police badge, handcuffs and a gun that he was definitely not in the headspace to fire anytime soon, but the bad guys didn’t need to know that. Oliver flashed back to the multiple times he’d been arrested and began reciting the Miranda rights. “You have the right to an attorney. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” He slapped the cuffs on the suspect and pulled him to his feet. As he did, the hood flipped back away from the other man’s face, revealing an old friend. “Roy?”

Roy’s doppelganger stared back at Oliver in confusion. “Roy? After all the times you’ve arrested me, you still can’t get my name right? Troy, man. Troy Parker.”

Oliver was still staring at Troy when he heard the quick beat of high heels running behind him. Felicity came to a sudden stop, gasping for breath. “You know our host could have given me better footwear for this mission. It’s not like – wait, is that – “

Oliver cut her off. “Troy Parker. I was just about to ask Mr. Parker why he was stealing your purse.”

Troy shook his head. “It’s wasn’t my idea. I told you I’m out of that life. But…”

“But what?” Oliver asked.

“But then some guy showed up at my door. Offered a thousand dollars for whatever was in her bag.” Troy shrugged as best he could in spite of the handcuffs. “I figured it was easy money. Didn’t realize it was _you_ standing beside her or I would’ve waited.”

“All right, so it sounds like you’re not really the person we want. Good news for you because it sounds like we might be able to just let you go and track him down instead,” Oliver said. “So what’s the guy’s name?”

Troy shook his head. “I didn’t get a name or a number. I was supposed to meet him at a bar tonight with the goods.”

“When and where?”

“Green Light. Tonight at eight.”

“Huh,” Felicity said. “That seemed a little easier to get than it should have been. What’s the guy look like?”

“Brown hair. Skinny. Not much to say about him. Pretty unassuming.”

“Okay, then here’s what’s going to happen,” Oliver said. “Seven-thirty you’re going to meet us at Green Light to help us track down this guy down. You do that, we find out what he wants and this little incident can stay off your record. A fresh start, Troy, isn’t that what you want?”

“And if I don’t?”

“Well, then I got to take you down to the station and you made a run for it. On top of the priors, it’s not looking good for you,” Oliver said.

Troy sighed. “Fine. All right. Just get these off of me. I’ll see you tonight.”

Oliver unlocked the cuffs and watched Troy run away.

“It’s nice to see Roy again,” Felicity said. “Even if he is an alternate reality knockoff version. Why are we trusting him exactly?”

“Well, one – I have no idea how to bring him into the station. I don’t know where it is, if I have a police cruiser somewhere in this reality. And two, I’m guessing the first person we meet here isn’t the one with the answers,” Oliver said, digging through the purse. “And three,” he said, pulling out what he was looking for. “We probably need some time to figure out just what’s on this,” he said, handing Felicity the floppy disk.

“The answer to getting back to our reality lies on outdated technology,” Felicity said. “Awesome.”


	3. Chapter 3

Eventually they managed to track down Oliver’s police cruiser and gotten the address for the local precinct from a phone book in a payphone. Felicity wondered if opening the files on the police computer was the best idea.

“I mean, what if movie me isn’t supposed to have this information?” Felicity mused. “Am I going to end up in action movie dream jail? Can you get paroled from there?”

“I think we should find out what it is before we meet with Roy, uh, Troy tonight, and find out who wants this disk and what for.”

“Okay, but if I end up in movie jail, you’re busting me out,” Felicity replied. “Which, admittedly, would make an interesting plot detour.”

The station was busy when they arrived and casually tried to look for Oliver’s desk without looking like they had no idea where it was. When they found it, Felicity wasted no time sitting down in the swivel chair while Oliver hovered behind her.

“So you’re telling me you actually remember how to work this dinosaur?” Oliver asked over her shoulder.

“I’ll have you know I was queen of the computer lab even back in kindergarten. The teacher would ask me for computer advice,” Felicity said. She popped the disk into the drive and began typing. She frowned as a series of numbers popped up on screen. “It’s encrypted.”

“Can you crack it?”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Please. Fastest hacker alive, remember?” Her fingers flew over the keyboard for a few more seconds and then she jumped out of her seat and threw her arms into the air. “Success!”

“You’re not supposed to have civilians at your desk, Detective,” a familiar voice called behind them.

They both turned, relief flooding their faces as they recognized the voice and face of John Diggle, only for that relief to slip away as they realized this wasn’t the real John. He was, however, wearing a police captain’s uniform complete with a badge that stated his last name was Higgins.

“Sorry, Captain,” Oliver said, struggling to come up with a reasonable explanation. “I received an anonymous tip. A disk with encrypted information.” He gestured towards the computer. “I asked an expert to take a look at it.”

“I know your girlfriend, Queen,” the captain said.

“Girlfriend?” Felicity asked. “I mean, yes, girlfriend.” She linked her arm through Oliver’s earning a bemused expression from him. “I am the girlfriend. She is me. Lovely to see you again, Captain.”

“I thought I told you to stay off our computers, Miss Smoak,” the Captain said. “Computer programmer or not, you are not authorized to use police resources.”

Felicity turned back to the monitor and her eyes widened. “Even if I used those police resources to decrypt the schematics for a bomb?”

“A bomb?” Oliver and Higgins said together, moving closer to the computer.

“Pretty big one by the looks of it,” Felicity said, sitting back in the chair.

“Does it say anything about where or when it’s going to detonate?” Oliver asked, leaning down to peek at the screen.

Felicity shook her head. “Nothing else. Just the plans.”

“How did you say you got this information again, Queen?” Higgins asked.

Oliver shared a look with Felicity. “Anonymous dropoff,” he repeated.

“Why would someone give you this disk without any information about where or when the bomb would go off?” Higgins asked.

Oliver shook his head. “No idea. But I think I should hit the ground on this one. See if any of my contacts have any leads.”

Higgins nodded. “All right, you hear anything, you let me know immediately.”

Oliver nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Felicity waited for Higgins to walk back into his office. “So we’re not telling the police how we got this information?”

“We don’t know how you got this information. We only know that someone wanted to steal it. Besides, we’re trapped in a nineties action movie. You really think this is going to be solved by going through the proper channels?” Oliver asked.

“Good point,” Felicity replied. “And I’d hate to see Fake Roy get arrested by Fake Diggle. He didn’t seem to know anything. So I guess we have to meet whoever his guy is tonight.”

“I guess so.”

*

The bar wasn’t busy when Oliver and Felicity entered, so it was easy to spot the familiar face waving them over from the corner booth.

Music Meister sat there grinning and sipping a strawberry daiquiri. “Great job decrypting the disk, Felicity. I knew you could do it.”

“Wait, are you the guy Roy told us to meet here?” Felicity asked.

“And put myself into the plot? No, that’s terrible storytelling,” Music Meister said. “I just wanted a closer look at your process.”

“Speaking of ‘closer,’ you made us a couple in your little scenario,” Felicity said.

Music Meister smiled. “Actually, no. I told you. Your combined subconscious created this world. So if you’re a couple here, it’s because some piece of you still wishes it were true. Although, I’ll admit it. I am hoping you crazy kids work it out. But I promise, it’s not a dealbreaker. You solve your mystery, you go home. Whether it’s as a couple or as ‘just friends,’” he said, putting up the air quotes. He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “So a bomb. Nice basic story. Totally in your wheelhouse.”

“So stop the bomb,” Oliver said.

“And save all the oddly familiar looking strangers,” Music Meister replied. “Go home. Everybody wins.” He nodded towards the bar. “And there’s your contact now,” he said.

Oliver and Felicity glanced towards the door to see Troy walking in. When they turned back towards the booth, Music Meister was gone.

Oliver sighed. “It’s worse than talking to Barry. Think Troy saw us talking to him?”

“I think he was too busy checking out the bartender,” Felicity said.

Without looking at her, Oliver was certain there was a smirk on Felicity’s lips. He turned around to see Troy smiling at a longhaired brunette.

“Thea.”

“Not Thea,” Felicity reminded him.

Oliver walked over to the bar and sat down beside Troy, with Felicity filling in the spot on Oliver’s other side.

“Mia, can I get a couple of beers for my friends here?” Troy asked.

“Club sodas,” Oliver said.

Mia smiled at Oliver. “Sure thing.”

Troy rolled his eyes. “Right. No drinking on the job.”

“So you said you didn’t know what you were trying to steal,” Oliver said. “That still your story?”

Troy rolled his eyes. “It’s the truth, man. So, yeah, I’m gonna stick to that story. All I was told was steal the blonde’s purse.”

“It was a bomb,” Felicity said.

“A bomb?” Troy asked. He looked at Felicity’s shoulder to see she still carried the bag. “You brought a bomb in here?” Troy whispered.

Felicity shook her head. “No, not like – not an actual” – she made an exploding motion with her hands – “not like _bomb_ bomb. Just the plans for one. A big one. Like level a city block big. You sure you don’t know anything about that?”

Troy shook his head adamantly. “No, I’m a thief, not a terrorist. Guy asks me to steal something, I steal it. I get a thousand dollars cash. No questions. Easy money. I’m not interested in getting anyone killed.”

“Two club sodas,” Mia said, reappearing with their drinks.

“Thanks, Th-Mia,” Felicity said, earning her a strange look from the bartender.

Mia studied Troy for a second. “Tell me you’re not getting yourself into trouble again,” she said.

“Honestly? I’m finding more trouble than I’m actually looking for,” Troy said.

Mia eyed his companions warily before turning her attention back to Troy. “You need anything you let me know, okay?”

“I always do,” Troy replied. He turned towards Oliver and Felicity as Mia walked away. “Listen, you probably don’t need to be waiting here when that guy walks in.” Troy nodded towards Felicity. “He paid me to steal your purse. He definitely knows who you are. And if he doesn’t know who you are,” he said to Oliver, “it’s probably best you don’t ruin that by letting him see you.”

“All right, we’ll be over there if anything goes wrong,” Oliver said. He walked with Felicity back to the booth they’d seen Music Meister at earlier. “This does have the best vantage point out of the entire restaurant.”

“Our transdimensional psycho knows how to do a stakeout,” Felicity agreed.

They watched Troy and Mia for a while, with Oliver focusing his attention on the girl who looked like a more relaxed version of his sister. He felt a sudden pang of loneliness. It had been too long since he’d seen Thea. He was just thinking that he would have to call her once they escaped this nightmare, when Felicity’s voice snapped him out of his reverie.

 “No!” she whispered.

“What?” Oliver asked.

“I’m pretty sure our skinny, brown-haired, unassuming bomb dealer just walked in,” she whispered.

Oliver turned towards the door to see Barry walk in wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket.

Troy rolled his eyes. “Who does this guy think he is?” he muttered to himself. “It’s after sunset, lose the shades.”

Oliver watched Not-Barry walk in, waiting for him to go up to Troy, but he didn’t. Instead he made a beeline for the bar. Mia’s face lit up and she threw her arms around him and planted a kiss on the familiar stranger.

Oliver rose to his feet, only to feel Felicity pulling him back down into the booth.

“You cannot kill Barry’s doppelganger for kissing Thea – someone who looks like Thea,” she said sternly.

“Pretty sure I can. I think we’re in a meta-free universe,” Oliver replied.

“She can take care of herself. He’s not the guy we’re looking for,” Felicity said. “We’ve got to look for the other guy. He’s the one who can give us answers.”

They didn’t have to wait long before a man in black glasses and a black suit entered the bar and headed for Troy.

“Wells?” Oliver asked.

“Or Thawne,” Felicity replied. “Either way, I’m pretty sure he’s the guy we’re waiting for.”


End file.
